Radiation therapy works by damaging the DNA within cancer cells and destroying their ability to reproduce.
When the damaged cancer cells are destroyed by radiation, the body naturally eliminates them.
Normal cells can be affected by radiation, but they are able to repair themselves.
Sometimes, radiation therapy is the only treatment a patient needs. Other times, it is combined with other treatments like surgery and chemotherapy. |
Brief History of Radiation Therapy
- The first patient was treated with radiation in 1896, two months after the discovery of the X-ray.
- Back then, both doctors and non-physicians treated cancer patients with radiation.
- Rapid technological advances began in the early 1950s with cobalt units, followed by linear accelerators a few years later.
- Recent technological advances have made radiation more effective and precise.
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